Nappy may have saved baby with 95 per cent burns
Doctors treating a baby with 95 per cent burns hope that the latest skin graft technology can save her life.
Nine-month-old Rhianna Hardie was scalded by boiling water when pipes burst and the ceiling above her cot collapsed. The only part of her body to be spared was beneath her nappy.
From this small area of flesh, doctors at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children hope to grow skin that could be applied to her face and body.
However, last night Rhianna's condition was described as 'critical'. She has only been given a 20 per cent chance of survival.
Her burns were described as 'full-thickness', which includes damage to the skin, nerve endings and the soft tissue beneath. She is heavily sedated.
Rhianna's family were spending only their second night in the newly-renovated council house in Taunton, Somerset, when the incident happened last Sunday.
It is believed that the boiler was faulty and a blockage caused pipes to burst. The ceiling collapsed under the weight of the water.
Her mother Charlene Haworth, 21, a health-care worker, and father Mathew Hardie, 27, a civil engineer, were at Rhianna's bedside last night.
The baby's grandmother, Kathleen McKenzie, 47, said: "The new skin growth is her only hope.
"The doctors can't work with skin from any other area of her body as it is too badly burned.
"She's a little fighter and we're hoping that the fact she's managed to survive six days is a sign that she will pull through. We just have to wait and hope that it will be OK. At the moment, we're not seeking to attach any blame to anyone.
"All our thoughts and energies are going into making sure Rhianna pulls through."
Technicians can grow enough skin from a postage stamp-sized piece of skin in about three weeks to cover the baby's body. Doctors will use a skin graft of the thin outer layer or epidermis, and the thicker, inner dermis.
Once the new skin has been grown, it takes at least seven days to 'bed' into the burned area.
Rhianna's father was also seriously scalded as he pulled her from her cot. Her two-year-old sister, sleeping in the same room, was also burned.
The Health and Safety Executive and the local council are investigating the tragedy.
